My New Normal (and thoughts on cheese)

I recently blogged about my workout routine - which was very intense at the time and had been for several months. My nutrition was pretty strict paleo as well, which while I still follow, is fairly intense itself. You could pretty much bounce quarters off of any part of my body. This is what we all want, right?! I should be happy, right?! Not necessarily.

I know a lot of women have (and some blog about) these contentment issues, and for me, they are largely due to the pressure I put on myself. This routine came with way too much pressure, as one would imagine. Truth be told, I probably wouldn't have slowed down, but through either (a) too much wear and tear on my body or (b) divine intervention, I got S-I-C-K and stayed sick for almost 2 weeks. Normally I would have just jumped right back into the gym, but I sort of made an unofficial decision to take it easy.

I read this quote from Olivia Wilde the other day and just LOVED it. In a recent interview, she said:

"I was hardcore vegan for years. When everything in my life became a little hectic, going through the divorce and everything afterward, I was like, ‘I need some goddamn cheese.’ And so I had some cheese.”

YES! This is exactly how I feel at the moment. You know why? Because,

If I dip my fork in some ranch dressing while eating my salad...

If I eat half of the (whole wheat) bread on my turkey burger every now and then..

If I go on date night with my husband and we split a massive antipasto platter of meat, cheese + wine...

WE WILL ALL LIVE. 

Tomorrow marks the first day of a 6-week team competition at my gym focused on nutrition and training. Normally I would have been all over this, but I opted out this time - not because I'm weak or a slacker - but because I've decided to be nicer to myself and take the pressure off of the table for a bit. I think there is one area of life where we could all cut ourselves some slack - and this is mine.

I have created healthy habits that will no doubt stick with me forever, which is a great thing to take out of all of this. I will maintain my healthy/non-processed eating habits, but I will not punish myself and obsess over a little slip. I need to workout regularly for my general health and for stress relief. However, "regularly" does not have to mean twice a day. This is the new normal, and I'm really looking forward to it!

Just putting this out there - you know, in case I need a reminder.